Billionaire Najib Makiti Tapped As Lebanon’s Prime Minister Amid Economic Crisis

Billionaire Najib Makiti Tapped As Lebanon’s Prime Minister Amid Economic Crisis

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, speaks to journalists after his meeting with ... [+] Lebanese President Michel Aoun, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 26, 2021. Aoun appointed Mikati, a billionaire businessman and former prime minister as the next premier-designate Monday, after Saad Hariri earlier this month gave up attempts to form a Cabinet amid an unprecedented financial meltdown roiling the country. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Najib Mikati, the Tripoli-born cofounder of investment firm M1 Group—who is worth an estimated $2.7 billion—became Lebanon's prime minister for a third nonconsecutive term on Monday as the country struggles to function amid shortages of food and medicine, and an ongoing financial crisis plunges millions into poverty.